WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're really glad you're 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:04.980 here with us today. Yeah, absolutely. If you 00:00:04.980 --> 00:00:06.719 are listening to this right now, I know exactly 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:08.980 who you are. You're the kind of person who wants 00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:11.580 to understand how the world actually works. But 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:14.199 you don't want to drown in just, you know, endless 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:16.820 data to get there. Right, exactly. You want the 00:00:16.820 --> 00:00:19.739 synthesis. You want those aha moments. A clear, 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:23.339 engaging look at complex topics without feeling 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:26.480 overwhelmed by all the noise. And you are definitely 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.109 in the exact right place for that today. We really 00:00:29.109 --> 00:00:30.989 have a fascinating journey mapped out for you. 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:34.000 The mission for today's deep dive is to unpack 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.039 a masterclass in modern leadership. We're looking 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.520 at the life and career of an American businessman 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.359 named Rich Lesser. Which is such an interesting 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:45.140 trajectory to follow. It really is. We are going 00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:49.100 to trace how a person goes from being a product 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.619 development engineer all the way to becoming 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:54.539 the global chair of the Boston Consulting Group. 00:00:54.740 --> 00:00:58.119 BCG. BCG, yeah. Which is undeniably one of the 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:00.320 most powerful and influential management consulting 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:03.409 firms. OK, let's unpack this because this is 00:01:03.409 --> 00:01:05.670 not just a standard corporate biography. No, 00:01:05.750 --> 00:01:08.010 not at all. When you really look at the milestones 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:10.290 of his career, what you're actually looking at 00:01:10.290 --> 00:01:13.269 is a blueprint. It's a roadmap of how global 00:01:13.269 --> 00:01:15.849 leadership, corporate responsibility and business 00:01:15.849 --> 00:01:18.209 strategy have fundamentally transformed over 00:01:18.209 --> 00:01:20.750 the last three decades. It really is a mirror 00:01:20.750 --> 00:01:23.730 reflecting the changing global landscape. What 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:26.379 we're going to trace today. Through the lens 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:29.140 of this one individual's career is the evolution 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:31.980 of the modern CEO. Right. We're looking at the 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:35.840 shift from a traditional. pure business strategist, 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:39.239 someone entirely focused on margins and market 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:41.519 share. The classic spreadsheet guy. Exactly. 00:01:41.859 --> 00:01:44.819 The shift from that to a highly complex figure 00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:47.400 who has to navigate global pandemics, climate 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.180 change, and incredibly dense political spheres. 00:01:50.459 --> 00:01:53.019 The job description has completely changed, and 00:01:53.019 --> 00:01:55.260 this trajectory maps that change perfectly. So 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:57.019 let's start right at the beginning, because the 00:01:57.019 --> 00:01:59.019 context of where someone starts often defines 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:01.500 how they view the board later in the game. Lesser 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:04.609 was born in 1962. he grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 00:02:04.609 --> 00:02:07.650 during the 1970s. Which is a very specific era 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:10.590 for that city. Very specific. For those who know 00:02:10.590 --> 00:02:13.650 their American industrial history, 1970s Pittsburgh 00:02:13.650 --> 00:02:17.610 is a crucible. This was a time of severe economic 00:02:17.610 --> 00:02:20.389 hardship for the city due to the collapse of 00:02:20.389 --> 00:02:23.830 the steel industry. You have a massive, historically 00:02:23.830 --> 00:02:26.930 dominant industry just completely unraveling 00:02:26.930 --> 00:02:28.969 in real time. If we connect this to the bigger 00:02:28.969 --> 00:02:32.810 picture, growing up, Amidst that kind of systemic 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:35.810 industrial collapse is going to leave a profound 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:38.689 mark on how you understand business. I would 00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:40.949 imagine so. Right. Because when you watch the 00:02:40.949 --> 00:02:44.319 undisputed titans of industry fail. The steel 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.560 mills that literally built the modern infrastructure 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:48.139 of the country. Right. Just shuttering their 00:02:48.139 --> 00:02:50.580 doors. Exactly. You learn a hard lesson very 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:52.719 early on. You learn about structural business 00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:55.560 vulnerabilities. Yeah. You see firsthand that 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:57.900 an entire regional economy can be hollowed out 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:00.900 if a monolithic industry fails to recognize global 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:03.620 market shifts. It instills an understanding that 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:06.039 adaptability isn't just a corporate buzzword. 00:03:06.180 --> 00:03:08.580 It's an absolute requirement for survival. Exactly. 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:12.439 No institution is too big to fail. And that adaptability 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:14.879 is exactly what we see next in his academic path. 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:17.159 He goes to the University of Michigan and earns 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:19.560 a bachelor's degree. Right. But he doesn't just 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.240 get a general business degree. He gets a degree 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:25.379 in chemical engineering, graduating summa cum 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:28.219 laude. Which is no small feat. No, not at all. 00:03:28.460 --> 00:03:32.020 And his very first career step isn't in a boardroom. 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:34.939 He starts as a product development engineer and 00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:37.789 a group leader at Procter & Gamble. A chemical 00:03:37.789 --> 00:03:40.750 engineer making soap and consumer products. Yeah. 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:43.530 It's a fascinating starting point for someone 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:46.389 who will eventually lead global corporate strategy. 00:03:46.729 --> 00:03:49.189 I completely agree, but I have to play devil's 00:03:49.189 --> 00:03:52.150 advocate here for a second. Making soap at P 00:03:52.150 --> 00:03:54.729 &G is very different from advising a Fortune 00:03:54.729 --> 00:03:57.569 500 bank on their corporate structure. Fair point. 00:03:57.849 --> 00:04:00.409 How does a chemical engineer actually translate 00:04:00.409 --> 00:04:03.389 those skills to human organizations? It is a 00:04:03.389 --> 00:04:05.750 great question, and it really comes down to systems 00:04:05.750 --> 00:04:09.400 thinking. What is chemical engineering at its 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:12.460 core? It's the science of understanding how highly 00:04:12.460 --> 00:04:14.800 volatile elements interact with one another under 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:17.279 extreme pressure, you know, under specific conditions 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:20.139 to create a stable, valuable product. Yeah. If 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:22.759 one pressure valve fails, the whole system blows. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:25.699 Wow. Okay. Corporate strategy is exactly the 00:04:25.699 --> 00:04:27.560 same thing. You are taking volatile markets, 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:30.800 unpredictable consumer behaviors, fragile supply 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:33.240 chains, and high -pressure economic conditions, 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:37.180 and you are trying to engineer a stable, profitable 00:04:37.180 --> 00:04:39.459 outcome. That makes a lot of sense. You have 00:04:39.459 --> 00:04:42.300 to understand the entire system and how moving 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:45.800 one variable changes the whole reaction. Engineers 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:48.540 look for root causes, they optimize processes, 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:50.939 and they build structures designed to withstand 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:54.120 massive stress. He is taking an engineer's mindset 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:56.920 and preparing to apply it to global markets. 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:00.360 Exactly. And from that foundation, he makes the 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.040 pivot. He heads to Harvard Business School, where 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:05.120 he doesn't just graduate. He becomes a Baker 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.100 Scholar. Which is an extremely high academic 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:09.439 distinction there. Right. This completely sets 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.759 the stage for his leap into the world of consulting. 00:05:12.259 --> 00:05:15.779 By 1988, he joins the Boston Consulting Group. 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:18.639 And just to ground us, because the consulting 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.649 world can seem a bit opaque sometimes. Traditional 00:05:21.649 --> 00:05:23.930 management consulting in the late 80s was largely 00:05:23.930 --> 00:05:26.589 about efficiency. A company brings in a bunch 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:29.550 of smart MBAs in suits to look at their operations, 00:05:29.930 --> 00:05:31.870 tell them where they are bleeding money, and 00:05:31.870 --> 00:05:34.550 suggest how to reorganize their hierarchy. Very 00:05:34.550 --> 00:05:37.089 spreadsheet heavy. Very traditional. Exactly. 00:05:37.350 --> 00:05:40.569 The classic model was essentially, hey, hire 00:05:40.569 --> 00:05:43.230 us and we will tell you how to cut 10 % of your 00:05:43.230 --> 00:05:45.509 operating costs so your quarterly earnings look 00:05:45.509 --> 00:05:48.949 better. Right. But when Lesser joins BCG, he 00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:51.480 starts applying that system's thinking. to client 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:54.660 work, specifically focusing on strategy, operations, 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.279 leadership and large scale transformation. So 00:05:58.279 --> 00:05:59.959 he isn't just looking at the spreadsheet. No, 00:06:00.019 --> 00:06:01.879 he is looking at the structural integrity of 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.699 the entire company. And he steadily climbs the 00:06:04.699 --> 00:06:07.079 ranks over the next two decades. He leads the 00:06:07.079 --> 00:06:10.360 New York Metro office from 2000 to 2009. He gets 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:12.160 elected to the firm's executive committee in 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:15.079 2006. Then he serves as chairman for North and 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:18.699 South America from 2009 to 2012. Yeah. But there's 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:20.819 an anomaly in the timeline here. that really 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:23.899 caught my eye 2008 the global financial crisis 00:06:23.899 --> 00:06:27.079 the great recession right it's totally counterintuitive 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:30.720 but bcg actually grew strongly through that devastating 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:33.500 recession and lesser played a pivotal role in 00:06:33.500 --> 00:06:35.579 making them the only global management consulting 00:06:35.579 --> 00:06:37.920 firm to do so i have to admit i get incredibly 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:40.439 excited about this specific nuance i can tell 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:42.879 because it defies all conventional business logic 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:45.519 think about what happens during a massive global 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:49.410 economic crash credit freezes Banks collapse. 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:52.149 Everyone panics. Everyone panics. The very first 00:06:52.149 --> 00:06:54.889 thing companies do is slash discretionary spending. 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:57.629 And historically, bringing in outside management 00:06:57.629 --> 00:07:01.209 consultants was viewed by many as a luxury expense. 00:07:01.389 --> 00:07:03.410 Right. If you're bleeding cash, you fire the 00:07:03.410 --> 00:07:06.550 consultants first. Exactly. To not just survive, 00:07:06.689 --> 00:07:09.310 but to grow strongly when the global economy 00:07:09.310 --> 00:07:12.050 is in freefall requires a fundamental shift in 00:07:12.050 --> 00:07:14.129 what you are selling to your clients. So why 00:07:14.129 --> 00:07:16.709 on earth would a massive retailer or a struggling 00:07:16.709 --> 00:07:20.490 bank hire BCG in October of 2008? Because of 00:07:20.490 --> 00:07:22.740 what Lesser had been focusing on. large scale 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:24.699 transformation. Let's look at a hypothetical 00:07:24.699 --> 00:07:27.579 scenario. Say you are the CEO of a massive logistics 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:30.240 company in 2008. Your supply chain is collapsing. 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:32.879 Your lines of credit just vanished and you might 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:34.939 not make payroll next month. You don't need a 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:37.600 25 year old MBA giving you a PowerPoint presentation 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:41.060 on synergistic brand alignment. Definitely not. 00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:43.620 You need an engineer to come in and fundamentally 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.540 restructure your toxic assets and salvage your 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:48.800 core operations so you don't go bankrupt. Wow. 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:53.500 So Lesser's focus likely positioned BCG not as 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:55.560 a luxury to help companies tweak their margins, 00:07:55.620 --> 00:07:58.259 but as an absolute lifeline. He was taking that 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:01.500 engineer's mindset of structural integrity and 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:03.899 applying it to companies that were structurally 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:07.199 collapsing. He made BCG's services a necessary 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.980 survival tool rather than an expendable luxury. 00:08:10.430 --> 00:08:13.110 That ability to prove your value in the darkest 00:08:13.110 --> 00:08:16.649 economic times clearly paid off because in May 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:19.269 2012, Lesser was elected to succeed Hans Paul 00:08:19.269 --> 00:08:21.389 Berkner as the global chief executive officer 00:08:21.389 --> 00:08:23.730 of the Boston Consulting Group. He officially 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:28.410 served in that CEO role from 2013 to 2021. And 00:08:28.410 --> 00:08:30.110 here's where it gets really interesting. Let's 00:08:30.110 --> 00:08:32.230 look at the numbers because they reflect a massive 00:08:32.230 --> 00:08:36.289 strategic pivot. During his time as CEO, he didn't 00:08:36.289 --> 00:08:38.549 just grow the firm. He more than doubled its 00:08:38.549 --> 00:08:42.549 size to over 22 ,000 employees. Wow. And he tripled 00:08:42.549 --> 00:08:45.639 its revenue. Those numbers are astronomical for 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:47.399 a firm that was already considered an established 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:50.340 giant in the industry. You don't triple the revenue 00:08:50.340 --> 00:08:53.399 of a legacy behemoth just by hiring more consultants 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:55.519 to do the same old things. So how do you do it? 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:57.960 Well, what is critical to understand here is 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:01.559 the mechanics of that expansion. This was a fundamental 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:04.080 diversification of the entire firm's capabilities. 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:06.539 He essentially looked at where the global economy 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:09.080 was going to be in 10 years and built the infrastructure 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:11.509 for it ahead of time. Let's unpack exactly how 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:13.330 he did that, because he started launching completely 00:09:13.330 --> 00:09:16.110 new specialized units within the firm. First, 00:09:16.289 --> 00:09:18.669 there was BCG Digital Ventures. Now, traditional 00:09:18.669 --> 00:09:20.470 consultants would just advise a company on their 00:09:20.470 --> 00:09:22.990 digital strategy. But Digital Ventures was set 00:09:22.990 --> 00:09:25.730 up as a builder and accelerator of digital businesses. 00:09:26.009 --> 00:09:27.789 Right. So instead of just handing a client a 00:09:27.789 --> 00:09:30.090 report that says, hey, you need an app to compete, 00:09:30.450 --> 00:09:33.389 BCG Digital Ventures would actually partner with 00:09:33.389 --> 00:09:36.330 them to build the app, launch the digital platform 00:09:36.330 --> 00:09:39.830 and accelerate that specific business unit. They 00:09:39.830 --> 00:09:42.909 moved from purely advising to actively building. 00:09:43.070 --> 00:09:46.309 Exactly. That is a massive operational shift 00:09:46.309 --> 00:09:48.570 that blurs the line between a consulting firm 00:09:48.570 --> 00:09:51.889 and a tech incubator. But he didn't stop at digital 00:09:51.889 --> 00:09:54.909 products. He also saw the data wave coming, which 00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:57.750 brings us to BCG Gamma. This was a dedicated 00:09:57.750 --> 00:10:00.940 analytics and machine learning team. And we really 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:03.220 need to pause on this one. Integrating a dedicated 00:10:03.220 --> 00:10:06.039 machine learning and AI team into a traditional 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:08.799 management consulting firm back in the mid -2010s 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.200 was incredibly early and absolutely crucial. 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:13.519 Way before it was trendy. This was long before 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.279 tools like ChatGPT made AI a household talking 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:18.799 point. He recognized before many of his competitors 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:21.700 that big data and predictive analytics were going 00:10:21.700 --> 00:10:23.679 to fundamentally disrupt every single industry, 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.440 from healthcare to logistics. So by building 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:29.539 BCG Gamma, he ensured the firm wasn't just reacting 00:10:29.539 --> 00:10:32.340 to the AI wave, they were writing it. If a company 00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:34.279 wanted to know how algorithm -driven pricing 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:37.440 could save their margins, BCG suddenly had the 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.320 world -class data scientists in -house to build 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:43.500 that model. It's brilliant. Next, he launched 00:10:43.500 --> 00:10:46.700 BCG Turn. This was a specialized turnaround, 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:49.320 restructuring, and transformation unit. Which 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:51.820 perfectly institutionalizes the exact skills 00:10:51.820 --> 00:10:53.940 that helped them survive the 2008 recession. 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.600 He took that crisis survival mechanism, the ability 00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:00.000 to parachute into a failing company and restructure 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.539 it from the ground up, and built an entire formal 00:11:02.539 --> 00:11:05.299 unit around it. So when the next crisis hits, 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:07.799 they have a dedicated SWAT team ready to deploy. 00:11:08.269 --> 00:11:10.750 And more recently, he oversaw the creation of 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:12.929 the Center for Climate and Sustainability. Which 00:11:12.929 --> 00:11:15.649 signals a massive paradigm shift. It is a recognition 00:11:15.649 --> 00:11:18.149 that climate impact is no longer just an environmental 00:11:18.149 --> 00:11:20.909 issue relegated to the corporate social responsibility 00:11:20.909 --> 00:11:23.590 department. Right. It is a core business strategy 00:11:23.590 --> 00:11:27.169 issue. Every major corporation on Earth now has 00:11:27.169 --> 00:11:30.090 to account for carbon taxes, supply chain vulnerabilities 00:11:30.090 --> 00:11:32.730 due to extreme weather, and consumer demands 00:11:32.730 --> 00:11:35.490 for green practices. I want you listening right 00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:39.240 now to just imagine. trying to steer a massive 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:41.940 traditional corporate ship into the digital age, 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:45.000 the AI age, and the age of climate accountability. 00:11:45.610 --> 00:11:48.190 all at the exact same time. It's a lot. The sheer 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:51.490 scale of operational agility required to launch 00:11:51.490 --> 00:11:54.549 these completely distinct arms, bringing in software 00:11:54.549 --> 00:11:56.750 developers, data scientists, and climate experts 00:11:56.750 --> 00:11:59.730 to work alongside traditional MBAs is staggering. 00:11:59.929 --> 00:12:02.230 Oh, absolutely. And doing all of this while managing 00:12:02.230 --> 00:12:06.049 over 22 ,000 employees. But he clearly managed 00:12:06.049 --> 00:12:08.250 the internal culture well during this massive 00:12:08.250 --> 00:12:11.629 scale -up, because in 2021, Lesser was named 00:12:11.629 --> 00:12:15.200 the top CEO in America by Glassdoor. That is 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:17.580 an award based entirely on anonymous employee 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:20.100 feedback. It is incredibly difficult to push 00:12:20.100 --> 00:12:22.659 a company through aggressive systemic transformation 00:12:22.659 --> 00:12:24.500 without breaking the culture of the organization. 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:27.200 Change usually breeds massive internal resistance. 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:30.059 Yeah, people hate change. Exactly. Again, it 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:32.440 is that chemical engineer's touch. Yeah. Managing 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:34.700 high pressure without letting the system explode. 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:38.620 In 2021, lesser transition from CEO to the role 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:41.600 of global chair. And this transition really marks 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:44.000 our entry into the final major theme of his career, 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:46.460 which is the role of the modern executive in 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:48.960 the public sphere and in driving social impact. 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:51.799 He moved way beyond the traditional corporate 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.129 balance sheet. This is the evolution we talked 00:12:54.129 --> 00:12:56.490 about at the very beginning. The job of a global 00:12:56.490 --> 00:12:58.850 executive is no longer just about delivering 00:12:58.850 --> 00:13:01.809 returns to the shareholders. It is about managing 00:13:01.809 --> 00:13:05.289 an incredibly complex web of global stakeholders. 00:13:05.669 --> 00:13:07.850 When you look at his trajectory as global chair, 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:10.889 you see a massive acceleration in social investments 00:13:10.889 --> 00:13:14.129 through major global partnerships. We are talking 00:13:14.129 --> 00:13:16.210 about formal collaborations with the World Food 00:13:16.210 --> 00:13:18.549 Program, Save the Children, and the World Wildlife 00:13:18.549 --> 00:13:21.899 Fund. These are complex, massive, non -governmental 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:24.240 organizations dealing with humanity's most severe 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:27.580 crises. Famine, child welfare, ecological collapse. 00:13:27.799 --> 00:13:30.419 A global consultancy partnering with them shows 00:13:30.419 --> 00:13:32.159 a blending of corporate logistical capability 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.519 with profound humanitarian need. They're applying 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:38.200 that same systems engineering mindset to global 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:41.179 crises. He also focused heavily on domestic social 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:44.259 issues. He oversaw the launch of the Southern 00:13:44.259 --> 00:13:47.240 Communities Initiative. This is a coalition involving 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:51.679 BCG, PayPal and Vista equity partners specifically 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.679 designed to help advance racial equity in southern 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:56.840 U .S. communities. Which demonstrates an understanding 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.440 that corporate leaders are increasingly expected 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:02.480 to leverage their capital, their networks and 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:06.279 their resources to address systemic social inequities, 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:08.830 not just economic ones. Right. The modern public 00:14:08.830 --> 00:14:10.909 demands that these massive corporations take 00:14:10.909 --> 00:14:13.809 a stance and actually do something about structural 00:14:13.809 --> 00:14:16.370 inequality. And the level at which he is navigating 00:14:16.370 --> 00:14:20.309 global crises and public policy is intense. Listen 00:14:20.309 --> 00:14:22.950 to this list of external roles he took on. He 00:14:22.950 --> 00:14:25.190 is the chief advisor to the World Economic Forum's 00:14:25.190 --> 00:14:28.490 Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders. He was previously 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:30.669 a member of the WEF's International Business 00:14:30.669 --> 00:14:32.850 Council. He serves on the board of directors 00:14:32.850 --> 00:14:35.330 of the Business Roundtable, where he specifically 00:14:35.330 --> 00:14:38.049 served as the chair of the CEO COVID -19 Task 00:14:38.049 --> 00:14:40.409 Force. And he is a member of the President's 00:14:40.409 --> 00:14:42.549 Export Council. What's fascinating here is the 00:14:42.549 --> 00:14:45.970 absolute tightrope that modern CEOs have to walk. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.000 Look at the breadth of those roles. They are 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:51.500 no longer just business operators optimizing 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:53.639 global supply chains. They really aren't. They're 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:55.580 expected to act as public health coordinators, 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:58.039 as we saw with the COVID task force, literally 00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:00.519 figuring out how to keep the global economy functioning 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:03.200 during a deadly pandemic. Right. They're expected 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:05.480 to be global climate advocates, as seen with 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:07.580 his role at the World Economic Forum. And they 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:09.700 are expected to act almost as diplomatic or political 00:15:09.700 --> 00:15:11.759 advisors on international trade. And when you 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.179 are operating at that higher level, intersecting 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:16.370 with public policy, you inevitably... intersect 00:15:16.370 --> 00:15:19.190 with polarized politics. Looking at the timeline, 00:15:19.409 --> 00:15:21.950 there is a very clear factual record regarding 00:15:21.950 --> 00:15:23.570 his involvement with the Trump administration. 00:15:23.929 --> 00:15:26.970 In December 2016, Lesser joined a business forum 00:15:26.970 --> 00:15:29.570 assembled by then president elect Donald Trump. 00:15:29.750 --> 00:15:32.029 Right. The stated purpose of this forum was to 00:15:32.029 --> 00:15:34.490 provide strategic and policy advice on economic 00:15:34.490 --> 00:15:38.210 issues. Then a few months later in August 2017, 00:15:38.750 --> 00:15:41.809 Lesser and other CEOs collectively decided to 00:15:41.809 --> 00:15:44.269 disband the group. This really highlights the 00:15:44.269 --> 00:15:46.429 sheer pressure of the position. Every single 00:15:46.429 --> 00:15:48.789 move, every council joined, and every statement 00:15:48.789 --> 00:15:51.429 made is heavily scrutinized. They have to navigate 00:15:51.429 --> 00:15:54.149 highly polarized, rapidly shifting political 00:15:54.149 --> 00:15:56.889 climates on a national and global stage. They 00:15:56.889 --> 00:15:58.929 are answering not just to their board of directors, 00:15:59.009 --> 00:16:00.970 but to the media, to their thousands of employees, 00:16:01.190 --> 00:16:03.639 and to the general public. It is a tremendous 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:06.100 amount of weight to carry. And when you look 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:08.759 at that punishing schedule, advising presidents, 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.740 navigating global pandemics, restructuring economies 00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:15.379 and running a 22000 person firm, it's worth noting 00:16:15.379 --> 00:16:17.539 that he was doing all of this while raising a 00:16:17.539 --> 00:16:20.360 family. He is married and has three children. 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:23.500 Wow. It really highlights the sheer bandwidth 00:16:23.500 --> 00:16:26.500 and extreme personal demands required to be a 00:16:26.500 --> 00:16:29.740 modern global executive. It is an all consuming 00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:32.669 reality. Absolutely. It is an important grounding 00:16:32.669 --> 00:16:35.029 detail. The physical and mental stamina required 00:16:35.029 --> 00:16:37.549 to operate at that intersection of global business 00:16:37.549 --> 00:16:40.009 and public policy while maintaining a personal 00:16:40.009 --> 00:16:43.529 life is frankly difficult to comprehend. So what 00:16:43.529 --> 00:16:45.769 does this all mean? When we synthesize this entire 00:16:45.769 --> 00:16:49.210 journey, we can trace a direct logical through 00:16:49.210 --> 00:16:52.909 line. We started with a kid in 1970s Pittsburgh 00:16:52.909 --> 00:16:55.870 watching the mighty steel industry collapse because 00:16:55.870 --> 00:16:58.549 it couldn't adapt to changing realities. We saw 00:16:58.549 --> 00:17:00.590 that kid become a chemical engineer, learning 00:17:00.590 --> 00:17:02.570 how to manage volatile interconnected systems 00:17:02.570 --> 00:17:05.549 under extreme pressure. And we saw that exact 00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:08.869 mindset scale up to become a CEO who steered 00:17:08.869 --> 00:17:11.289 a massive global consulting firm through the 00:17:11.289 --> 00:17:14.930 2008 financial crisis, a total digital and AI 00:17:14.930 --> 00:17:17.809 revolution, and a global pandemic. And he didn't 00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:20.240 just survive those events. He constantly... evolve 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:22.759 the structural capabilities of his firm to meet 00:17:22.759 --> 00:17:25.079 them head on. Exactly. The ultimate takeaway 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:27.740 for me is about how we process information and 00:17:27.740 --> 00:17:30.519 anticipate change. Lesser's career proved that 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:32.740 in our current era of constant rapid disruption, 00:17:33.059 --> 00:17:35.420 the most successful leaders aren't just the ones 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:37.440 who have memorized the most facts or hold the 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:39.119 tightest conclusions. They are the ones who can 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:41.420 spot the underlying patterns before anyone else. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:43.700 They're the ones who can restructure their organizations 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:46.539 quickly. They build the new tools. like machine 00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:49.559 learning teams, digital incubators, and climate 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:52.000 sustainability centers, long before the market 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.759 forces them to. They build the lifeboats while 00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:57.160 the ship is still sailing smoothly. That is the 00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:00.980 absolute essence of true strategy. Exactly. But 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:02.880 this raises an important question, one that goes 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:05.559 beyond just business strategy and touches on 00:18:05.559 --> 00:18:08.759 the very fabric of our society. As we see business 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:11.759 leaders like Lesser increasingly step into roles 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.240 that were traditionally held almost exclusively 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:17.339 by elected policymakers, chairing global COVID 00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:20.220 task forces, leading international climate alliances, 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:23.779 driving massive racial equity initiatives, we 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:26.240 really have to ask ourselves, in the 21st century, 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:28.680 who is ultimately shaping the structural future 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:31.640 of our global society? Is it our elected officials 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:34.519 or is it our corporate executives? Wow, that 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:36.519 is exactly the kind of question we want to leave 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:38.640 you with today. It completely shifts how you 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:40.779 read the news and how you view the leaders of 00:18:40.779 --> 00:18:43.440 these massive organizations. Thank you so much 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:45.559 for joining us on this deep dive. We hope you 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:47.640 walk away with a clearer understanding of how 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:49.519 the corporate world has evolved, and we encourage 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:51.900 you to keep questioning the structures of the 00:18:51.900 --> 00:18:54.420 organizations that shape our world. Until next 00:18:54.420 --> 00:18:54.740 time.